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Senior Citizen Longevity & Statistics

U.S. Senior Citizens in Poverty Jumped to 3.6 Million in 2007, 9.7 Percent of All Seniors

In 2007, the family poverty rate and the number of families in poverty were 9.8 percent and 7.6 million, respectively, both statistically unchanged from 2006

Aug. 25, 2008 – The number of seniors citizens (age 65 and older) in the U.S. living in poverty jumped to 3.6 million in 2007, up from 3.4 million in 2006. The percentage of all seniors living in poverty increased from 9.4 percent to 9.7 percent from 2006 to 2007 – an increase the Census Bureau calls “statistically unchanged.”

There were 37.3 million people in poverty in 2007, up from 36.5 million in 2006. The nation’s official poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, “not statistically different” from the 12.3 percent in 2006.

These findings are contained in the report Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007 [PDF]. The data were compiled from information collected in the 2008 Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC).

Also released today were income, poverty and earnings data from the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS) for all states and congressional districts, as well as for metropolitan areas, counties, cities and American Indian/Alaska Native areas of 65,000 population or more.

Real median household income in the United States climbed 1.3 percent between 2006 and 2007, reaching $50,233, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the third annual increase in real median household income.

The number of people without health insurance coverage declined from 47 million (15.8 percent) in 2006 to 45.7 million (15.3 percent) in 2007.

Following are the Highlights by the Census Bureau on Poverty

     Overview

  ● In 2007, the family poverty rate and the number of families in poverty were 9.8 percent and 7.6 million, respectively, both statistically unchanged from 2006. Furthermore, the poverty rate and the number in poverty showed no statistical change between 2006 and 2007 for the different types of families. Married-couple families had a poverty rate of 4.9 percent (2.8 million), compared with 28.3 percent (4.1 million) for female-householder, no-husband-present families and 13.6 percent (696,000) for those with a male householder and no wife present.

     Thresholds

  ● As defined by the Office of Management and Budget and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2007 was $21,203; for a family of three, $16,530; for a family of two, $13,540; and for unrelated individuals, $10,590.

     Age

  ● For people 65 and older and those 18 to 64, the poverty rate remained statistically unchanged at 9.7 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively. For children younger than 18, the poverty rate increased from 17.4 percent in 2006 to 18.0 percent in 2007.

  ● The number of people in poverty increased for seniors 65 and older — from 3.4 million in 2006 to 3.6 million in 2007. For children younger than 18, the number in poverty climbed as well, from 12.8 million in 2006 to 13.3 million in 2007. For those 18 to 64, however, the number in poverty remained statistically unchanged, at 20.4 million in 2007.

     Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data refer to people reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)

  ● For Hispanics, 21.5 percent were in poverty in 2007, up from 20.6 percent in 2006. Poverty rates remained statistically unchanged for non-Hispanic whites (8.2 percent), blacks (24.5 percent) and Asians (10.2 percent) in 2007.

     Nativity

  ● Among the native-born population, 11.9 percent, or 31.1 million, were in poverty in 2007. Both the poverty rate and number in poverty were statistically unchanged from 2006.

  ● Among the foreign-born population, the poverty rate and the number in poverty increased to 16.5 percent and 6.2 million, respectively, in 2007, from 15.2 percent and 5.7 million, respectively, in 2006. An increase in poverty for U.S. noncitizens (from 19.0 percent in 2006 to 21.3 percent in 2007) accounted for the rise in poverty for the foreign-born population overall.

     Regions

  ● The number in poverty in the South increased to 15.5 million in 2007, up from 14.9 million in 2006, while the poverty rate remained statistically unchanged at 14.2 percent in 2007. In 2007, the poverty rates for the Northeast (11.4 percent), the Midwest (11.1 percent) and the West (12.0 percent) were all statistically unchanged from 2006. The poverty rate for the Northeast was not statistically different from that of the Midwest or West.

American Community Survey (ACS)
(Provides state, county and city statistics)

     Poverty

  ● In the 2007 ACS, among states and the District of Columbia, poverty rates ranged from 7.1 percent for New Hampshire to 20.6 percent for Mississippi.

  ● In the 2007 ACS, there were 29 states in which poverty rates were lower than the national average; for 17 states and the District of Columbia, they were higher.

  ● For 12 states and the District of Columbia, poverty rates declined from the 2006 to the 2007 ACS: Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah. The only state where the poverty rate increased was Michigan.

  ● Among counties with 250,000 or more people in 2007, Cameron and Hidalgo counties in Texas had higher poverty rates than the others. On the other hand, Douglas County, Colo., had a lower poverty rate than every other county in the same size category except for Somerset County, N.J., which at 2.6 percent was not statistically different.

  ● Among smaller counties — populations between 65,000 and 249,999 ? Apache County, Ariz. (33.8 percent), St. Landry Parish, La. (32.8 percent), Webb County, Texas (31.1 percent) and Robeson County, N.C. (28.7 percent), while not statistically different from each other, had among the highest poverty rates in the 2007 ACS. With poverty rates ranging from 3.4 percent to 4.6 percent, the 10 smaller counties with the lowest rates did not differ statistically from one another. Among these counties was Stafford County, Va., where 3.4 percent had income below the poverty level.

  ● In the 2007 ACS, among large cities (250,000 or more population), Detroit had the highest poverty rate (33.8 percent). Plano, Texas (5.9 percent), Virginia Beach, Va. (6.4 percent) and Anchorage, Alaska (7.3 percent), while not statistically different from each other, had lower poverty rates than other cities of the same size.

  ● Among the smaller cities (65,000 to 249,999 population), Bloomington, Ind. (41.6 percent) had a higher poverty rate point estimate than other places, although its rate was not statistically different from that of Camden, N.J.; Brownsville, Texas; and Gainesville, Fla. The poverty rate for Highlands Ranch, Colo., which was among the lowest (0.8 percent), was not statistically different from Chino, Calif.; Yorba Linda, Calif.; Folsom, Calif.; Flower Mound, Texas; Pleasanton, Calif.; and Weston, Fla.

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